Fairness has been a concern for Jesse Marsch when it comes to piling positions onto Sam Greenwood’s plate. Leeds United’s head coach can see the challenges of constantly moving around the pitch, but he can’t help himself because of Greenwood’s intelligence.
The 20-year-old arrived at Thorp Arch in 2020 as one of England’s brightest striker prospects, but he was soon playing as a central attacking midfielder under Mark Jackson and Marcelo Bielsa. Marsch then had him in the double pivot at Brentford in May, where he shone, before then playing him wide at points in Australia this month.
Marsch knows it’s a lot for the youngster to take on, but he cannot help marvelling at the way Greenwood is adapting to everything thrown his way in this tactical system. A loan exit was a possibility for Greenwood in January, but he’s developed into a valued member of Marsch’s squad for the coming season.
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“First of all, he has a lot of flexibility to his game,” said Marsch. “He's played six, eight, 10, he can play striker.
“In some ways, it's not fair to him to try different positions, but he's an intelligent player. He fits within what we're trying to build within our team.
“He's a hard worker, he's an intelligent guy, he's able and that's the reason why we use him in a lot of positions, because he's very adaptable. He understands tactics and his role and he has big talent.”
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